Collecting the pledges registered through seven investment promotion agencies (IPAs), data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed that investment commitments in the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector totaled 4.9 billion peso in the April-to-June period in 2017, falling from 6.27 billion peso registered in the same months last year.

The latest figures of the Information Technology and Business Process Management (IT-BPM) industry showed the continued decline in investment pledges. The PSA earlier reported a 34-per cent decrease in new pledges during the first quarter to 4.18 billion peso from 6.34 billion peso in the same three-month period in 2016.

“Perhaps the IT-BPM firms are just taking time in due diligence as well as a wait-and-see approach on the US policy for companies locating offshore,” Trade and Industry Secretary Ramon Lopez told the Inquirer.

Lopez added that there were still “anchor accounts expanding using innovative operating models,” noting that they were retooling the workforce of the IT-BPM industry, also known as the country’s top private sector employer, to use new technology such as systems enabled with artificial intelligence.

This is not the first time that pledges shrank in terms of their growth rate.

According to PSA data, the expansion rate of these pledges had been on a decline since the third quarter of 2016. In spite of a more than 35-per cent increase in pledges during the second quarter of 2016, commitments still finished the full year with a 22.6-per cent decline to 30.74 billion peso from the previous year that had 39.73 billion peso.

Thein Tun, founder of MGS Group and chairman of Tun Commercial Bank, said in a recent interview that real estate is the company’s most profitable line of business, as it is now working on housing projects and building hotels and serviced apartments.

He refused to reveal investment ad revenue figures but was proud to say that his firm was among the top taxpayers in Myanmar.

“At this point, we will keep our eye on serviced apartments and hotels. We plan to build a US$18-million (Bt600 million) property in Yangon after opening a 50-room hotel in Inle Lake,” he said.

Both hotels would be completed in two years, and the Yangon property would accommodate more than 200 rooms, he said.

On Thursday, the firm set foot in the hospitality business with the grand opening of Bagan Star hotel, a three-star property with 81 rooms.

“We chose Bagan because it is the most active tourism destination in Myanmar due to its historical and archaeological value. Bagan attracts a lot of tourists, and we are happy to take part in making it developed further,” he said.

“Actually, we intended to open it during the previous government term.

“Unfortunately, it was one of the 25 hotels not allowed to open at that time, due to some requirements. So we are extremely happy to see it operational under the democratic government.”

The hotel charges $70 for deluxe rooms and $120 for suites, locals and foreigners alike. It has a workforce of nearly 50 employees, 90 per cent of whom come from Bagan and nearby villages.

Thein Tun hired Australian experts to train the staff and manage the hotel. He expects 60 per cent occupancy this year, which is forecast to rise over time as the firm is focusing on marketing.

The firm needs to invest for five to 10 years to gain profits in the far future despite some improvements in the nation’s legal framework, he said.

“Tourism is yet to become a profitable business here. But in the long run, it will definitely be profitable. Just look at other Asean countries.

“Thailand received more than 34 million tourists while Malaysia welcomed over 29 million, and Singapore 16 million last year. Even Cambodia received over 8 million tourists.

“But we only received less than 4 million. That shows we have a lot of room for improvement,” he said.

The tycoon seems fairly satisfied with the expansion of business under Myanmar’s first civilian government.

The company remains profitable in its major businesses except airline and media. It holds 49 per cent of Carlsberg beer and 30 per cent of Pepsi.

The firm’s microfinance business has over 40,000 customers nationwide, while Tun Commercial Bank has grown to 25 branches with over 850 employees across the nation.

The carcass of a 5.2-metre (17-foot) adult male was found in the Fitzroy River in central Queensland on Thursday with a single gunshot wound to the head, the environment department said.

“It is illegal to ‘take’ and kill a crocodile without authority and police will work closely with (the environment department) to locate the person responsible,” Queensland police said.

Under the state’s conservation laws, the maximum penalty for the unlawful killing of a crocodile is Aus$28,383.75 (US$22,530).

The incident sparked warnings about heightened aggression among younger crocodiles in the wake of the giant predator’s death.

“People need to clearly understand the death of this animal has changed the balance of the crocodile population in the Fitzroy,” the environment department’s diversity operations director Michael Joyce told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

“And we can expect increased aggressive activity by younger male crocodiles. That’s because they will be competing to take the dominant position which is now vacant.” Joyce said.

A handout photo taken on September 21, 2017 and received on September 22 from the Queensland Police Service shows a 5.2-metre male crocodile that was found in a creek along the Fitzroy River near Rockhampton with a single gunshot wound to the head. // AFP PHOTO

“He is a crocodile that does spend a fair bit of time controlling the river and controlling the young animals that are in the river.”

Joyce added that he didn’t think the crocodile had posed a problem but rather, was “an important part of our ecosystem”.

Saltwater crocodile numbers have exploded since they were declared a protected species in the 1970s, with recent attacks reigniting debate about controlling them.

The “salties”, which can grow up to seven metres long and weigh more than a tonne, are a common feature of the vast continent’s tropical north and kill an average of two people a year.

A handout photo taken on September 21, 2017 and received on September 22 from the Queensland Police Service shows a 5.2-metre male crocodile that was found in a creek along the Fitzroy River near Rockhampton with a single gunshot wound to the head. // AFP PHOTO

Throw women in a room with beautiful objects up for grabs, and chances are a riot would ensue. Imagine a sample sale, or any sale for that matter, and you get the picture.

It had been almost a month since her blockbuster participation at ArteFino Fair 2017, and Zarah Juan was still in a daze. For three days in August, she had well-heeled women locked in (though friendly, if there was one) over her beaded pom-pom mules in her booth at the Penthouse of 8 Rockwell in Makati.

The shoes, crafted by Marikina shoemakers using leather from Juan’s province of Bulacan, bore the colors and exquisite beadwork of the Bagobo-Tagabawa tribe of Davao del Sur. It was Juan’s first such collection.

In Juan’s small booth, cramped even more by the deluge of shoppers trying to get hold of her very limited number of shoes, the women bent and crouched to try on what would fit of what was left from the roulette—actually, designed after the agung, a Mindanaoan musical instrument—display.

Whatever fit was clutched rather inelegantly, close to their chest, lest someone else grab it. Banter was, however, quite friendly: “Oh, that’s cute! Lucky you!”

One even “stole” the lone red pair Juan lent to furniture designer Ito Kish for display in his booth. (The “thief” confessed and begged to buy it.)

It felt like WalMart on a Black Friday. Funny part is, the shoes weren’t even on sale, and at P4,000 (US$80) a pair, they weren’t exactly cheap.

“One woman bought 10 pairs, all for herself. Another got seven pairs,” said the designer. They sold out, save for a couple of really large men’s sizes. (Full disclosure: this writer took part in the melee on Day 2 and went away with the lone pair left in her size.) Of her Bagobo fringe beaded bags, she went home with only one left.

“I still can’t believe it,” said Juan, whose partner community, the Bagobo-Tagabawa, was given ArteFino’s HeArteFino Development Program grant, to help them develop “uniquely Filipino, world-class products.”

Brand-defining year

“This has been a good year for us,” she added. “It’s the year when I can truly say we have defined who we are as a brand. It’s also fortuitous that Filipinos are now embracing who we are as a people and loving our own. We are able to connect with the communities and it has been very rewarding.”

Juan started working with various indigenous groups after being involved with the GREAT (Gender Responsive Economic Actions for the Transformation of) Women project of the Philippine Commission on Women in 2013, which helps small and medium enterprises.

Eco bag business

At the time, Juan, a former flight attendant for an American airline, was still deep in her eco bag business, supplying the country’s biggest retailer and its sister company that sells balikbayan handicraft. In 2015, she went back to visit the Bagobo-Tagabawa women and started developing product ideas with them.

Juan, a self-taught but a natural designer, had already made bags, espadrilles and ballerina flats using local weaves: the binakul of abel Iloko, the t’nalak of the T’boli, the pinilian of Abra with Bulacan embroidery, the weaves of Bontoc Province, among others.

“Unlike the dream weavers of the T’boli, the beaders of the Bagobo-Tagabawa tell of a different story,” Juan said of the colorful indigenous group in the mountains of Davao del Sur.

“Their patterns have meaning. They reflect the beader’s wish or prayer, their petition. And I was in awe of how simple their prayers were—they didn’t ask for frivolities or riches. It could be as simple as hoping for rain so the flowers would bloom, or a safety passage that a snake won’t be in their path.”

Collaboration

The Zarah Juan brand, said its designer, is “all about collaboration.” She mentors, and working with indigenous groups requires a “different level of sensitivity” with respect to their culture and traditions.

Juan doesn’t dictate; when she proposes a design, it undergoes discussion. That’s why in the sea of multicolored beaded mules at the recent Makati fair, there were also samplings in solid colors like black and blue. While red, yellow and black are dominant colors for the tribe, they’re normally combined with other colors.

As for the addition of pom-poms, which incidentally is a trend in fashion, it came natural as pom-poms are also part of the Bagobo costume, said Juan.

In her 10 years as a self-made entrepreneur, Juan has transcended her trade to become a legitimate designer whose products are not just beautiful, but also objects that people want to buy.

She’s bombarded with queries on Instagram about where her products are available—previously, she sold them only in fairs and bazaars, with a small showroom on Amorsolo Street in Makati. She’s also joining Manila FAME next month.

Online platform

Juan said her team is now developing the brand’s online platform where they could show and sell their designs. As for those clamoring for her pom-pom mules, she hopes they could replenish their stocks by early October, but that they won’t be taking orders. They will only sell what’s on the floor since the pieces are handmade and not produced in volumes in factories.

From eco bags, Juan now has another advocacy, which is “to uphold the traditions and culture of local communities, or they will disappear,” she said.

“I talk to the [Bagobo] women every day, and they’re happy to know that people want to own what we’re making. The project is making sense to them. The younger generation is taking an interest, and for them to hear that there’s a demand, it’s a source of pride.”

The seven-man panel tribunal announced its verdict after considering documentary and expert evidence as well as the testimony of some 200 victims of the atrocities committed against the Rohingya, Kachin and other minority groups in Myanmar.

Head judge Daniel Feierstein, who founded the Centre for Genocide Studies in Argentina, read out the findings following five days of hearing held at the Universiti Malaya Legal Faculty moot court.

He said that the Myanmar regime was indicted and found guilty of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

“The tribunal ruled that Myanmar is guilty of genocide against the people of Kachin and Muslim groups there,” he said.

The tribunal also made 17 recommendations following the judgement.

Among the recommendations announced by judge Gill H. Boehringer was that the Myanmar government cease the acts of violence against the Muslim minorities there.

“Visas and free access must be granted to the United Nation’s Fact Finding to probe the atrocities committed against the Rohingya, Kachin and other groups in Myanmar,” he said.

He added the Myanmar government must also amend its constitution and abolish discriminatory laws to give rights and citizenship to the oppressed minorities.

He said that the international community must provide financial help to countries such as Bangladesh and Malaysia that are hosting the influx of refugees escaping the violence.

He added that the tribunal’s findings, judgement and recommendations would be forwarded to international bodies and civil groups to pressure the Myanmar government to act accordingly.

Organising committee chairman Dr Chandra Muzaffar hailed the verdict as a significant step towards recognising the crimes committed in Myanmar.

“The tribunal has called evil by its name by using terms such as crimes against humanity and genocide,” he said.

He said the tribunal’s findings and judgement should be used as the basis for international bodies such as the Asean, International Criminal Court and superpowers to act.

The recent crisis in Myanmar has resulted in over 420,000 Rohingya refugees fleeing across the border to Bangladesh.

Malaysia has strongly questioned the manner in which Myanmar addressed the Rohingya issue, saying that the country had denied permission for the international community to provide humanitarian aid to the ethnic group.

The Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal was founded in Italy in 1979 and comprises

66 international members.

Since its establishment, the tribunal has held 43 sessions on numerous cases involving human rights and genocide.

The seven youths held over the tahfiz fire last Thursday cannot face the death penalty as they are underage, said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said.

Responding to the chorus of calls from parents of the victims and the public for the youths to be charged as adults and given the death penalty, the de-facto Law Minister said the teenagers would be tried in accordance with laws such as Section 97(1) of the Child Act 2001.

She said even if they were found guilty of murder, their punishments would be under Section 91(1) of the Act which include whipping, fines or detention at an approved school.

Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Mohamad Fuzi Harun also said that the parents of the youths would not be charged as they had nothing to do with the case.

“I urge all parties to stop specula­ting and give space to the authorities to complete the investigation,” she said.

The early morning fire at the Darul Quran Ittifaqiyah school resulted in the deaths of 21 students and two teachers.

In a related development, Fire and Rescue Department director-general Datuk Wan Mohd Nor Ibrahim said the entrance at the dormitory in which 21 students and two teachers were burned to death, had been doused with petrol.

He said traces of petrol were found on the dorm’s door and outer wall, as well as on a towel rack and a shoe rack located outside the room’s door.

He said two gas cylinders with their valves removed were placed in front of the door, and Liquid Petroleum Gas was deliberately released from the cylinders, causing the fire to spread fast.

“The fire started at the main entrance of the dormitory, which is located at the third level of the school. This is based on the statements taken from witnesses and victims that survived.

“We also found spalling on the wall near the dormitory door, mass loss on the door, ceiling, cupboard and a shoe rack.

“Clean burn marks on the wall surrounding the dormitory entrance strengthens the evidence that the fire started at the door.

“Four dogs from our K9 Unit found seven traces in front of the dormitory, and these samples were found to contain a flammable liquid residue, which is petrol,” he told a press conference in Putrajaya yesterday.

Wan Mohd Nor said the official cause of the incident is classified as incendiary fire.

One of the teenagers arrested to help police in their investigations into the fire was brought to the tahfiz at about 11.50am yesterday.

He was escorted to the rear fence of the tahfiz and was taken away an hour later.

    The district court in Chiba near Tokyo said the government “was able to foresee” but “may not have been able to avoid the accident” caused by the tsunami that smashed into the Fukushima Daiichi power plant.

Triggered by a 9.0-magnitude earthquake, the water overwhelmed reactor cooling systems, sending three into meltdown at the plant in eastern Japan.

Radiation was spewed over a wide area, leaving vast swathes of land uninhabitable in Japan’s worst postwar disaster and the world’s most serious nuclear accident since Chernobyl in 1986.

Chiba court judge Masaru Sakamoto turned down the demand of 42 plaintiffs for the government to pay compensation.

However, the court ordered operator Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) to pay a total of 376 million yen ($3.3 million), much less than the the 2.8 billion yen plaintiffs had sought.

Around 12,000 people who fled over radiation fears have filed various group lawsuits against the government and TEPCO.

Cases have revolved around whether the government and TEPCO, both responsible for disaster prevention measures, could have foreseen the scale of the tsunami.

Plaintiffs’ lawyers have argued they could have anticipated the size of the wave, citing a 2002 government report on long-term seismic activity on the Japanese archipelago.

Dozens of class-action lawsuits have been filed seeking compensation from the government over the disaster, and the latest ruling is only the second verdict.

In a verdict made in March by the Maebashi District Court, north of Tokyo, the judge ordered both the government and the plant operator to pay compensation, though the figure was far below plaintiffs’ demands.

In June, three former TEPCO executives went on trial, the only people ever to face a criminal court in connection with the disaster.

Prosecutors had twice refused to press charges against the men, citing insufficient evidence and little chance of conviction.

But a judicial review panel composed of ordinary citizens ruled in 2015 that the trio should be put on trial, which compelled prosecutors to press on with the case under Japanese law.//AFP

Fourteen of the bullet trains, dubbed Fuxing (or Rejuvenation), now run at 350 km/h on the 1,318-km rail line linking China’s two biggest cities, according to China Railway Corp, which operates the service. Other train services on the line remain at 300 km/h.

The new service cuts travel time to 4 hours, 28 minutes from roughly five hours, while ticket prices remain unchanged, CRC said.

A fully loaded Fuxing train departed the capital from Beijing South Railway Station at 9 am on Thursday. Before its departure, excited passengers took photos in different poses with one of the Fuxing bullet trains.

“These trains are so popular that the tickets for today’s services sold out a week ago,” said Huang Xin, director of operations for CRC.

Shen Naihong, 68, a frequent traveller between Beijing and Shanghai, said after the train had pulled into Jinan West Station in Shandong province that the new service runs smoothly. “I didn’t even have the feeling of the speed reaching 350 km/h.”

Adolfo de Pedro, a 58-year-old Spaniard on a business trip to Shanghai, asked his colleague to take pictures for him once they boarded the train.

“We have bullet trains in Spain. It’s not as comfortable and useful as it is here in China. The Spanish government has built a lot of high-speed trains, but it’s useless because maybe some cities only have two passengers going for the ride,” he said. “Here in China it’s much better. It’s more efficient and always good to do that.”

CRC said the resumption of 350 km/h services is possible thanks to “prominent progress in technology innovation”. The service was launched to “meet passengers’ anticipation for shorter travel time and improve the service of China’s high-speed railway network”.

Qi Yanhui, deputy director of science and technology management at CRC, said Fuxing trains — despite providing free Wi-Fi, more power outlets, USB ports and extra legroom — have put safety ahead of everything else in design.

He said Fuxing trains are designed to meet the highest standards, and have an expected service life of 30 years or 15 million km. They can run in extreme temperatures from 40 C and -40 C, and can be adapted to various geological and operational situations.

In contrast, the previous Hexie (or Harmony) models were mostly designed with a service life of 20 to 25 years.

The Fuxing is also fitted with more than 2,500 sensors to collect some 1,500 forms of real-time data needed to run such a train, 500 more elements than the previous bullet train models, he said.

To reduce fatalities and damage to carriages in accidents, it also is designed with more advanced shock and crash energy absorption equipment, he added.

China lowered the speed of high-speed trains to 300 km/h on five railway lines — Wuhan-Guangzhou, Zhengzhou-Xi’an, Shanghai-Nanjing, Beijing-Tianjin and Shanghai-Hangzhou — in July and August of 2011, due to safety and cost concerns.

Although designed with an operation speed of 350 km/h and a maximum speed of 380 km/h, the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway was launched on June 30, 2011, with a speed of 300 km/h.

In the past six years, it has safely transported 672 million passengers.

Though a latecomer, China had a high-speed railway network of more than 22,000 km by the end of last year, the longest system in the world.

Hours after the United States announced its toughest economic sanctions yet on North Korea, Kono said that more than 160 countries had diplomatic relations with Kim Jong-Un’s regime.

“We have to urge these countries to cut their diplomatic and economic relationships with North Korea,” Kono said in a speech at Columbia University on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

Echoing the UN address of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Kono said: “It is not the time for dialogue for the sake of dialogue. Now is the time for the international community as a whole to maximize the pressure on North Korea to take concrete actions toward the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.”

Kono estimated that North Korea would lose 90 percent of its export revenue if all nations implemented existing UN Security Council resolutions.

China remains the main economic lifeline for North Korea. Beijing fears the impact if the regime collapses, including an exodus of refugees.

The US-educated Kono, who took up his position a month ago, delivered his speech in fluent English in what he described as a broad policy speech.

Kono voiced hope for smoother relations with China, which has a range of disputes with Japan, including over territory and wartime history.

“We are the second and third largest economies in the world. Hence, we have a great responsiblity for the peace and prosperity of the region,” he said.

“Therefore, we should not confront each other. We should not allow tension to dominate the entirety of Asia,” he said.

Kono is the son of Yohei Kono, a prominent dove in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party who is best known for issuing Japan’s landmark 1993 apology for sexual enslavement during World War II.

The elder Kono recently raised eyebrows when he appeared to criticize his son’s government, saying there should be more cooperation with China over North Korea.